This is a dark world, For a bright girl
by X.Devils-Sweetheart.X
Summary: Every geek deserves a love story, right? Even Greg Sanders. So when a new Csi comes to Vegas, not only is it a story of love, but also of hate, revenge, recovery and discovery. R&R :D
1. Whats Your Name Again?

**Ok this is my first fan fiction for normal Csi so bear with me ok. This takes place at the start of season nine. Where they have just lost Warrick, and they gain a new Csi. I would also like to thank _Shining brighter_ for making me continue with this idea, and by making me I mean forcing me! Well I'll let you read it now hope you enjoy it! Please review, it would make me very happy. :).**

Grissom sighed, the new Csi would be here soon. The one that would replace Warrick, but in his eyes Warrick was irreplaceable, and no matter how good this new Csi was, she would be no-where near as good as Warrick had once been. He picked her file up from his desk once again and scanned though it, she was an 23 year old English woman, she had graduated from oxford university top of her class, he had to admit he was impressed by that. Throwing her file back on his desk, he rose from his chair. He needed to relax, he scanned his bookshelf for his favorite book _'bugs of the world' _he found it and flicked though the pages not really taking anything in. There was a light tapping on his office door.

"Come in!" Grissom called. He heard the door squeak open and put his book back down. He turned and faced the woman that was now stood in his office. She was average size, medium length brown hair, that had some orange, blue and pink highlights in it. He locked his blue eyes with her intense brown ones. She looked back at him nervously.

"Hi you must be Dr. Grissom, I've heard so much about you. I'm, Danielle Mitchell, though you can call me Danni for short, everyone does, I'm the new Csi" she paused and waited for his response. A few moments passed before Grissom replied.

"Yes, I'm Grissom" he offered her a small smile. "I'm the supervisor of the night-shift, your new boss." Grissom turned away from Danni sharply, and walked towards the door, he turned his head over his shoulder. "Oh yeah, by the way I'm going to need a pint of your blood!" Grissom looked away from the new Csi again and walked out the door.

Danni walked round the lab, rubbing her newly injured arm. Grissom had told her to find a person called Nick Stokes, she had presumed that he would be in the break room, but so far she had, had no luck in finding him. She was so deep in thought, that she walked into someone knocking them to the ground. Danni looked down at the person shocked.

"I'm, I'm, so sorry" Danni stuttered, offering her hand to the blond woman, the woman took it pulling herself up.

"It's ok, just watch where you are going ok!" the woman brushed a loose blond hair out of her face. "I'm Cathrine by the way, Cathrine Willows" Cathrine looked Danni up and down. "You must be the new Csi, whats your name?"

" Danni Mitchell" Danni replied, self consciously shifting her weight from foot to foot. Cathrine frowned.

"Well it's nice to meet you Danielle, I have work to do, so I'll see you around" Cathrine said, side stepping Danni and walking away.

"Wait!!" Danni exclaimed. Cathrine paused waiting for the new Csi to continue speaking. "Do you know where I can find a Nick Stokes?" Cathrine gave her a small smile.

"He's with Greg in the lab" Cathrine gave Danni one last look then sauntered away down the hall.

"Thanks!" Danni shouted as Cathrine turned the corner. She sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

Greg lounged back in his chair. This was his break, he was going to relax. He let Nick ramble on about last nights game, not really listening, he closed his eyes letting his mind wander. He didn't even realize someone walk into the room.

"Excuse me" someone tapped on his shoulder. "Are you Nick Stokes?" Greg opened his eyes. He found a female staring back at him. He blinked a couple times just to check that he was awake. He came to the conclusion that he was awake. Now he had to think of what to say. He had to think of something fast! Something smart. Something witty. Something cute. Wait. Did he honestly think that he had to say something cute!? Greg's brain was about to go into complete meltdown when Nick spoke.

"Err.. no that is Greg, I'm Nick." the Texan said jumping down from the table he was sitting on. "You must be the new Csi. Good to meet you. Grissom told me you were going to shadow me today, wait, what was your name again?" Nick raised an eyebrow at Danni.

"It's Danni" Danni smiled, so far today she had felt so cut off from everyone. She knew why. And under the circumstances she didn't blame them. They had recently lost a member of their team, and no-one recovers from that quickly.

"Danielle" Nick grinned "Thats a nice name, well Danielle, you will be shadowing me and young Greg here, today, under Grissom's orders." Danni nodded in agreement shifting her attention to Greg, who sat still speechless in his chair. Nick chuckled. "Enjoy this moment Danielle, he's not normally this quiet. In fact he never normally shuts up!"

"Shut up, Nick!" Greg huffed. He grinned at the new female Csi standing in front of him, and held his hand out. "Nice to meet you Danni, I'm Greg" he pulled a face. "Greg Sanders" Danni laughed and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you too" she said her brown eyes twinkling. All of a sudden their pagers went off simultaneously.

"Looks like we have a case" Nick said putting his pager away. By the time Danni looked up from her pager, Nick had left and Greg was at the door. Greg winked at her.

"Welcome to Vegas..!"

When Danni arrived at the scene, Nick introduced her to detective Jim Brass, he was a middle aged looking man, who had started in the process of losing his hair, his brown eyes studied her. She greeted Brass warmly, but he just muttered something as he flipped open his note book.

" The Vic was a 21 year old woman, goes by the street name LJ, but real name is Lucy Jane. she has no family." Brass summarized.

" Thanks Jim" Nick called as he ducked under the crime scene tape, followed closely by Greg. Danni quickly picked up her kit and followed them, nearly forgetting the crime scene tape, she bent down just in time to miss walking straight though it. Greg had hung back for her, smiling as she approached him.

" You ready to see your first dead body?"

" I've seen dead bodies before, Greg, its just this one isn't in a book" Danni quipped.

" Oh well they don't count then, do they?" Greg lightly teased as they walked towards the Vic.

" Greg stop flirting with the newbie!" Nick shouted, then laughed. Greg turned a deep shade of red, then motioned Danni to follow him over to Nick. As soon as they reached Nick the Vic's body came into view. Danni looked at her shocked, she wasn't like the ones she had seen in all her study books. The Vic wasn't all clean, and she defiantly didn't look at peace with the world. in fact the Vic looked anything but peaceful. Greg and Nick now had serious expressions set on their faces.

Nick couched beside the Vic's body. He looked at Danni signaling her to crouch down beside him. Once she realized that her legs would still support her, Danni made her way to Nick and crouched down beside him.

" So Danielle, what can you tell me about the Vic?" he quizzed.

" Well.." Danni said putting her gloves on, she lifted the Vic's arm. "... Our Vic was a user, she has track marks" Danni pointed out to Nick.

" Doing good so far, what else can you tell me?" Danni smiled a little at the praise, then remembered where they were and took another look at the body. She noticed a greenish stain just to the right of the Vic's abdomen.

" Looks like the Vic has been here for awhile..." Danni brushed the Vic's long blond and black hair out of her face " Vic's face is slightly bloated.." Danni opened the Vic's mouth "..The tongue is slightly swelled. And the eyes have started to liquefy..." Danni pulled softly on the skin on the Vic's face. "The skin has also become slightly detached." she turned to Nick " My best guess is the Vic has been here for a couple weeks at best." she finished. Nick let out a low whistle.

" Very impressive, looks like Doc has some competition" Danni smiled. Greg crouched beside the body on the opposite side to Danni and Nick.

" Well it wasn't robbery..." Greg stated.

" Where's you evidence for that?" Nick questioned.

"..Well the Vic still has a lot of money on her" Greg took a photo of the Vic before removing a purse from her. He done a quick count on it" There must be like, one, two, three, four, about five hundred dollars in here!" he put the purse and the money in an evidence bag. " We might be able to lift some prints of the money" Nick nodded in silent agreement, and pressed lightly on the Vic's chest, a small hissing noise was his reply. He pointed to the Vic's chest.  
" I think I found our Vic's C.O.D" he concluded. "Stab wound to the chest, tore straight though the sternum, and pierced the heart, so the Vic bled out" Nick took a quick scan of the scene. " There's no blood here at all, well, maybe theres a little, but not as much as their should be if the Vic bled out!"

" Body dump?" Danni questioned.

" Looks like it. We better get the body back to the morgue." Nick told them. " And process the scene". Danni and Greg nodded in unison, and headed off to search the scene.

Danni breathed in deep, the stench of death took some getting used to, but she wasn't prepared to give up yet.

" Hey, Danni, come over here for a second!" Greg shouted. Danni looked up and strolled over to where Greg was stood.

" What is it?" Danni questioned as Greg pointed to the floor.

" Theres blood drops, looks like the Vic was brought in this way, we better see where they lead." Danni nodded and quickly followed the trail. " Jeez, wait up" Greg laughed and jogged to keep up with her. " So err... do you want to, get a drink after this case is wrapped up?" Greg asked nervously.

" Sure" Danni replied. " What time are we all going to meet?" she asked as she studied the ground for blood drops.

" All?" Greg said casually.

" Yeah all like Nick, Cathrine and the rest of the team, I mean I want to introduce myself properly." she paused " The trail ends here, must have been taken out of a car." Danni looked up at Greg. " Whats the matter?" Greg signaled for her to be quiet, a couple moments passed in which they heard nothing, then the noise of footsteps replaced the soundtrack of silence. Danni shot Greg a worried look. Greg softly placed his kit down and drew his gun. He moved silently closer to Danni and whispered in her ear.

" Go find Nick, and stay with him, I'll sort this out" Danni turned her head slightly so she could whisper back into his ear.

" No chance, I'm coming with you" Danni drew out her new gun slowly, mimicking how Greg was holding his. They both looked at all the crates that were in front of them, knowing that murderer could be in anyone of them. The crate that Greg was stood in front off suddenly erupted with noise and a man came crashing out, knocking Greg's gun to the floor. The man grabbed hold of Greg's neck tightly. He slowly backed off so that Greg was in front of him, like a shield. Danni watched helplessly, with the gun in her shaking hands. She couldn't shoot, if she did there was a chance she could kill Greg. But she couldn't let the man take him either!! She had to make up her mind and fast! Her finger slid to the trigger and tightened it's grip. Greg flinched in pain as a gunshot rang out.

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	2. Pinky Promise

**Ok before you find out what happened to Greg, I need to day the usual, I do not own any off the charters they all belong to CBS. Also I am soo sorry for not updating sooner, its just I want his story to be good, and also I had a load of school work, lol. And by the way the XXXX signify new paragraphs. Well anyways, enjoy, and please review =] x**

Nick heard a gunshot ring out, he shot a look at Brass, and simultaneously they both drew their guns whilst running in the direction of the gunshot. Emerging from the warehouse, just in time to see Greg fall to the ground with a man fall on top of him. Danni still held a gun frozen in her hands. She glanced at Nick, dropping her gun to the floor she ran and knelt beside Greg. The assailant was groaning in pain, now laying beside Greg. Danni ignored his moans of pain, and shook Greg trying to make him open his eyes.

" Oh god, I'm sorry, I thought I only hit the man behind you" she held back tears, and cradled Greg in her arms " I aimed for his leg!" Greg's eyes flickered open as Nick and Brass ran towards them. A small grin materialized upon Greg's face.

" Jeez Danni, you need to improve your aim, I mean that dude could have crushed me!" Danni heaved a sigh of relief, then discharged Greg from her arms causing him to knock his head on the hard concrete. " Ouch! My head is still tender you know!?" he groaned rubbing his head.

" You deserve it" Danni huffed. " Don't you ever do that again, ok?" Nick coughed to remind the two that him and Brass was still there.

" So, err, care to fill us in on what happened?" he inquired as Brass got up and inspected where the man was laying.

" Well" Danni started " Greg found-"

" Thats it blame me." Greg interrupted, Danni shot him a look and he fell silent once again.

" As I was saying, Greg found some blood drops, and called me over, we followed them and ended up out here, where he..." Danni pointed to the man Brass had just cuffed. " … Came out of one of the crates and knocked Greg to the floor" summarized Danni.

" Uh.. huh" Nick nodded. " You may want to go collect your gun" Danni nodded and walked over to the spot where she had dropped her gun. Nick looked sternly at Greg " I ment you too!"

" But I'm injured here" Greg protested. Danni smiled watching the Texan and the spiky haired Csi argue. She bent down and picked up her gun, flicking on the safety catch as she did so. Danni made her way back over to the other three, stopping to pick Greg's gun up on the way.

" Cheers" Greg smiled as she handed him, his gun. He made sure that the catch was on and put the gun back in the hoister. Greg heaved himself off the ground, Nick aiding him in getting up and standing steady. " I think I'll take Danni back to the lab" Greg commented " It's safer there" he added as they all watched Brass drag the mystery assailant back though the warehouse, and into the police car.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" Do you always drive this slow?" Danni asked yawning.

" I am not driving slow" Greg stated " And remember I did get attacked, like half an hour ago"

" Good point, and I guess I should be lucky your not checking out you hair in the wing mirror. Nick said you do that a lot" commented Danni. Greg cursed Nick under his breath.

" Well it is hard trying to maintain perfection" bragged Greg as he ran a hand though his hair.

" Yeah tell me about it." quipped Danni mimicking Greg, and looking in the wing mirror.

" Haha very funny" Greg said sarcastically though his laugh was genuine. Danni laughed and turned her head away from the window, towards Greg. She saw his brown eyes sparkle as he laughed, and the corners of his mouth were etched with soft laughter lines, she couldn't help but stare. Greg turned his head and caught her watching him, Danni blushed and hastily turned her head to look back out the window. A couple minuets past and Danni soon grew bored of looking out of the window, instead she leaned in and turned on the car radio. Almost instantly 'Personal Jesus' by Marylin Manson came blasting out of the speakers. Danni stifled back a giggle, and changed the CD.

" Hey, I love that song!" Greg protested, but a soft smile was still upon his face.

" Well I don't" Danni said looking though Greg's Cd's " He scares me!" commented Danni, finding a Cd she liked, she slipped it into the car's Cd player, and hit play. Both Danni and Greg were silent as the intro to the song played.

" Hmm, Good Charlotte, you have good taste" Greg noted.

" They are my favorite band, they have been since I was young, they got me though some real hard times" Danni said, Greg knew not to ask, not yet anyway.

" So why Vegas then?" he asked changing the subject. Danni thought for a couple seconds before answering.

" Err... I don't know really, I lived with a friend in New York for awhile, she is a Csi there" Danni explained. " But I wanted to become a Csi, my friend understood, she told me to go for my dreams, and to remember if I ever need any help then she was just a couple states away" Danni chuckled at the thought. " She was always there for me when I needed her, oh, I knew her from England, we grew up together" Danni finished. Greg raised an eyebrow not tearing his eyes away from the road.

" You still didn't answer my question" he stated, as they pulled up at the lab. Danni undone her belt and opened the car door.

" I know I didn't answer your question, I'll tell you when I figure the answer out for myself" she reasoned as she jumped out of the car, Greg got out of the car slowly and walked round to get the evidence out of the trunk, Danni followed and helped him carry all of it into the lab. Greg nudged Danni playfully as they deposited the evidence in the lab.

" Well promise me that I will be the first you let know, pinky promise" Greg grinned and held out his little finger to Danni. Danni grinned back and locked her little finger with his.

" I promise"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" Hey you two!" Nick called out as he, arrived back at the lab in Brass's car. Danni and Greg let go of each others little fingers instantly as if they were white hot. Nick got out of the car and approached the two. He looked at them suspiciously " What we're you two up to?" he questioned.

" Nothing" both the Csi's replied. Nick raised an eyebrow.

" Sure" he paused. " Anyway the body arrived back here before us, we should go see what Doc Robbins has to say about it, now sorry to tear you two apart but Greg I need you to run trace on the substance that I found on the Vic's wrist." Nick looked at Danni " And you can come with me to autopsy" Greg gave him a questioning look " Don't give me that look Greg. Shes a big girl, I'm sure she can manage an autopsy-"

" What about the man who attacked Greg?" interrupted Danni.

" Well hes being interrogated by Brass, as we speak" informed Nick. " Now come on lets get going" Nick swung his arms enthusiastically. Danni and Greg nodded.

" I'll page you when I now what the substance is" Greg called as he walked off down the hall " See you two later" he added as he turned the corner. As Danni and Nick walked to the morgue they talked about the case.

" You like him don't you?" Nick said suddenly. Danni blushed.

" No I don't, not in that way" she said softly, she wasn't sure who she was trying more to convince, Nick or herself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" Well the first thing I can tell you is" Doc Robbins started " This is not, Lucy Jane"

Danni gasped " Who is it then?" she studied Doc Robbins, he looked around Grissom's age, but he had less hair then Grissom. He had a thin nose that was perfect to balance his glasses on. They slipped slightly down his noes as he bent over the Vic, he pointed to her teeth.

" Her back tooth hasn't erupted from the surface of the gums yet, making her younger then eighteen"

Nick rubbed his face " But Brass confirmed that it was Lucy Jane"

" It's an easy mistake to make" Doc Robbins rummaged in the bag on the table next to the body, he pulled out the Vic's ID cards. " It looks like the Vic wanted to be known as Lucy Jane" he handed Danni the ID cards " Nice to meet you by the way.... I'm Dr Albert Robbins but you can just call me doc, you don't need to introduce yourself to me though I have already heard a lot about you" he smiled slightly " Nearly shooting Greg on your first day, certainly makes you a memorable member of the team" he commented. Danni smiled nervously back at him then looked at the ID cards. There was no doubting it, it was definitely the Vic's picture on the ID cards. But the age was wrong it said the Vic was 21.

" Isn't it possible that the Vic is still called Lucy but just she changed her age a little?" Danni questioned. Doc chuckled.

" Hmm.... An inquisitive mind, I like that. And the answer for your question sadly is no. you see this" the Doc grabbed his crutches and made his way to the computer. " You see if I search for a Lucy Jane" he typed and waited a couple moments, there was a rewarding _ding _as the computer had found a result " See there is a perfectly healthy and alive, 21 year old, Lucy Jane living in Utah. Its a simple case of identity theft" he concluded.

" Oh" Danni muttered. Doc made his way back to Nick and Danni. He reached the table and continued to speak.

" Although, you were both right about the time and cause of death. I narrowed down the time frame a bit though" he offered to the two Csi's " The Vic died somewhere in between 2-3 weeks ago from a stab wound to the chest. But the killer.." doc pointed to the chest wound the Vic had " The killer thrust the knife _up _into the Vic's chest, piercing the heart and causing the Vic to bleed out" Danni nodded slowly and turned to Nick.

" Do you mind if we act out the murder, it's just I need to see it with my eyes, so that I can start to figure it out" Danni explained.

Nick chuckled and said " Sure, its no problem. Just tell me what you want me to do" Doc Robbins watched Danni as she instructed Nick to pretend to attack her. Nick grabbed Danni's arms and held them tight, restraining her from moving. Danni twisted and turned, trying to get her arms free, she then done the motion of a sharp edged blade hitting Nick in the chest, being thrust upwards. Nick released Danni's arms.

" Our attacked was shorter then our Vic" Danni concluded. " The Vic must of lunged at the attacker, restraining the attackers wrists, the attacker then must of thrust the murder weapon up into the Vic's chest" she summarized.

" I couldn't of summed it up any better" Doc Robbin's said with a smile. " I also did find some trace in the wound track, I sent it down to trace, Hodges said he would get it done ASAP"

" Thanks Doc" Nick smiled " We're going to go to trace, see if they know anything about what you found in the wound yet, or the substace on the Vic's wrist" Danni also thanked the Doc and followed Nick out of the morgue.

" So..." Danni started, walking beside Nick. " Tell me what this Hodges is like then?" she questioned, as they turned the corner, and headed to trace.

" Hodges?" Nick pondered. " He is, uh.... Different"


	3. Mmm, Coffee

**Heey all, 1st of all sorry for not udating for a long time, I was real busy, 2nd sorry for this being so short, I don't have an excuse for that though, its just pure lazyness,lol. now to the story, I do not own Greg, Nick..., yada yada, but I do own Danni and the Vic, :). So read and please review!**

Danni stood watching Hodges for a couple minuets, she came to the conclusion he was probably the type of man who still lived with his mom, and attended star trek conventions or something like that. Yes, she thought, he definitely did have a nerdish air about him.

" The substance on the Vic's wrist..." Hodges started " Was the residue from a stamp of some sort, probably from a nightclub or something like that-"

" Can I have a look, please?" Danni asked interrupting Hodges. He gave her an evil look then coughed.

" I hope you don't interrupt Grissom like that" Hodges snipped. " As I was saying. The Vic had residue from a stamp or something like that on her wrist, or thats where Greg thought it was from anyway. So he asked doc Robbins to run a UV light over the Vic's wrist and take a photo, I had only just got back from getting the photo, when you two arrived, the photo confirms Greg's suspicions that the Vic went to a club on the night she was murdered" Hodges pulled a photo up off his desk, Danni held out her hand ready to take it. Hodges eyes flashed at this gesture, and he immediately forced the photo into Nicks hands, giving Danni a satisfied grin. Slightly raising his eyebrows, Nick looked at the photo.

" I don't recognize this stamp, new club maybe?" he turned the photo so that Danni could see it.

Danni's eyes widened. " I know what club this is" she said surprised " I went there on my second night in Vegas, it's a club on the strip" Danni hit her head with the palm of her hand in frustration " Liquid Apple!" Danni exclaimed " That was the name of it... see" Danni pointed to the logo " There is the tree, and there is the Apple falling into the martini glass. Hence the name liquid apple"

Nick smiled " Nice catch newbie" he said affectionately, as he handed the photo back to Hodges. " Have you got anything else for us?" in response, Hodges held up a evidence bag which had the white fibers that had been recovered from the Vic's wounds.

" Yes I do. The white fibers that doc recovered from the Vic's wounds came back to be from a white towel of some sort. The killer probably had cleaned the knife before the murder" Hodges stood up from his chair " And then I asked myself, what type of killer cleans the knife _before _the murder, and the conclusion I came to is, a killer that had not intended using a knife for killing people. Maybe he had used it as a kitchen knife, hence the reason why it was cleaned with a towel."

" So.... basically what you are trying to tell us is that a kitchen knife was used to kill the Vic" Danni summed up.

Hodges blushed slightly " Yes that is what I was trying to say"

Nick started moving towards the door, he turned back and saw that Danni hadn't moved one bit, he quickly grabbed her by the wrist, and started half leading, half dragging her out. " Err... thanks Hodges" Nick called as he left the room, with Danni now in tow.

" It's no problem" Hodges called out, he turned to see Wendy watching him. " Hey Wendy" he paused " Do you want to hear my theory for the case?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

" Hey! You guys, wait up" Greg called down the hall, making Nick and Danni pause to turn round. " You were going to leave me with Hodges?" he accused. He held up three coffee cups. " I went to get some coffee, and by the time I got back, Hodges said you had been and left! He didn't take the credit for the finding the stamp on the Vic's hand did he?"

Nick chuckled before answering " No, he didn't, he told us it was you who had suggested it, and Danielle, here, even gave us the name of the club"

Danni cringed at the use of her name. " Yeah I, uh, have been to the club before" she admitted. " Why didn't Hodges like me?" she questioned Nick.  
Nick rubbed his neck, trying to find a nice way to word his next sentence. " Well, uh, the thing is, well, Hodges doesn't really take to new people all that well, he always seems to think that Grissom will like them more then him"

Danni looked from Greg to Nick and back again, several times " Your kidding right?"

" Unfortunately no." Greg replied, grinning slightly at the look on Danni's face.

" But, but thats stupid" Danni argued.

Both Nick and Greg nodded " We know" they said simultaneously.

" Well, anyway..." Greg started changing the subject " Have you been to see Brass yet?"

Danni shook her head " No we were on our way there now"

" Lets get moving then" Greg said enthusiastically as he drained his coffee cup, he then turned and half ran, half skipped down the hall. Danni stood with Nick, a confused look on her face, she cradled her coffee cup in her hands.

" Is he always like that, or is it just the coffee?" she asked taking a sip of her coffee.

Nick put his coffee cup to his lips, and tipped his head back, letting the warm liquid trickle down his throat, waking up his sleepy brain. He returned his head to look at Danni " Well I would love to say that it is just the coffee. But I don't want to lie to you" Nick grinned and followed in the direction Greg had gone, but, Nick, thankfully wasn't skipping.

XXXXXXXXXX

" Do you really want to piss me off?" Brass asked as he slammed his fists down on the table. He let his eyes lock with the suspects, narrowing them he repeated his original question. " Now, tell me, why were you at that warehouse?"

" Wrong place, wrong time" the suspect replied coolly, as he leaned back in his chair. It took Brass every once of self control he had to not lean over the table and punch the him.

" Well, if you don't start talking, you will be in the wrong place for the rest of your life, on a murder charge!" Brass spoke softly, masking his anger. " Now start talking"

" Ok, ok, chillax, old dude" the suspect started and he leaned forward. " The name is Gerrard Bellows. You happy now?" Gerrard paused waiting for a response, sensing he wasn't going to get one he continued speaking " I dated Freddie"

" Freddie?" Brass questioned, as he took a seat opposite Gerrard " Who's Freddie?"

Gerrard's hazel eyes flashed at Brass " Freddie, y'know the girl you found"

" Does she, Freddie, have a surname?" Brass inquired.

" Yeah, it was...." he thought for a moment before answering " Dynamos, thats it, Freddie Dynamos"

" So back to my original question, why were you at the warehouse, today?"

" We hung out there before, and we hadn't seen each other for a couple weeks, so I figured she might be there. I found her body and panicked, thought you guys were gonna kill me. But you ended up busting my chops, down here at the prescient"

" Ok, we're done here then" Brass concluded " I'll get you signed out then-" Brass was cut of by the sound of the door opening.

" Erm. Detective Brass, sir" the nervous officer spoke " I was sent by doctor Grissom, he says they found another Vic, it looks like the same circumstances and COD as your Vic" Brass swallowed looking from the suspect to the officer, he knew only one thing for sure, tonight was going to be a long night.

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	4. Greg, one Danno, zilch

**Ok, this is going to be a very short chapter, sorry about that :/ but I'm not in the mood for it to be a long chapter, I'll make up for it, I promise :) and I know I sound desprate, but please review, I haven't got a review for this story in ages, :( Ok heres a deal, the more reviews I get, the faster I will do the next chapter ;) Deal? Anyways, as usual I own nothing apart from Danni and the vics. So enjoy :)**

* * *

Grissom made his way though the lab to find the new Csi. He had just left the morgue, after getting back from the crime scene. As soon as he had received the call about a female DB being found that had similar circumstances to the new Csi's case, he had sent a officer to inform Brass. Now it was up to him to locate and inform the new Csi, he rubbed his forehead in frustration, his memory for names wasn't as good as it once had been. All his head was full of now days was worries about Sara, if she was ok, wherever she was. Danni. That was her name. He turned the corner into trace and saw Danni and Greg in a deep conversation, Danni was perched on the table, and Greg was sitting in a chair staring up at her, a soft smile playing on both of their faces. Grissom was taken back to when him and Sara had sat and talked in the exact same place. He smiled before calling out to inform them that he was in the room.

"Danni" he started making her jump and fall of the desk. Grissom, tried to mask his smile. Greg though, wasn't as successful, as soon as Danni hit the floor Greg burst into fits of laughter. Earning him an evil look and a light slap on the arm. "Can I continue now?" Grissom interrupted before Danni had the chance to batter Greg to death. Danni blushed and nodded. "Good. Another victim has been found. She had the same COD as your Vic, and the circumstances around her death were too close to your Victims to be a coincidence" Grissom concluded letting out a sigh.

"Do you think we have a serial killer on our hands?" Greg asked suddenly serious.

"We might do Greg, but it's too early to tell" Danni looked at Greg nervously and saw the colour drain from his face.

Grissom bypassed Greg and handed the autopsy report to Danni. "From what I hear from Doc and Nick, you will make more sense of this then young Greggo" Grissom teased lightly, before turning and heading towards the door. "You get anything new in the case, then come tell me" he instructed before walking off down the corridor.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

Danni flicked though the report, occasionally calling out the main points. "29 year old female" Greg fidgeted in his chair. "Blond" Greg leaned forward listening "She had track marks-" Greg went to interrupt Danni but was silenced by a look, from her. "Puncture wound to her chest, again with an upward angle-"

"So we're looking for a small man, that deals drugs, and has a thing for blond women" Greg concluded, with a small smile.

"What says it's man?" Danni questioned "Theres no physical evidence that enlightens us on what sex the murderer is"

"Yeah but women wear high heels, which would make her taller then the Vic" Greg countered.

"I don't" Danni argued back. "Outside of your little fantasies, not all women wear heels" she finished with a smirk. She returned to reading the report. "Wait" she paused re-reading the part that she had just past "...There was DNA found under her nails, it was sent to trace and-" she stopped not believing their luck "- There was a hit. The DNA belongs to, Tyrone Cassone, he owns a casino on the strip"

"Ha" Greg barked as he stood up from his chair.

"Ha, what?" Danni asked as she headed for the door.

"Told it was a man" Greg bragged like a child. Greg grinned and pumped his arms out in front of him repeatedly in a victory dance style. Danni laughed walking with Greg as they headed down the corridor, she punched him lightly on the arm.

"Stop it, your embarrassing me!" she admitted going red.

Greg laughed "Your just jealous of my superior dancing skills" he teased, with a cheeky grin. They turned the corner and headed to the car park. "I mean I don't blame you, if I were you I would be jealous too" Danni rolled her eyes, as they made their way to the SUV, Greg unlocked the doors with a click of a button and they both got in. "Greg, one. Danno, zilch." he taunted turning on the ignition.


	5. The Bright Lights Of Vegas

**Ok same as usual guys, I own nothing. R&R, enjoy...**

* * *

Danni stood on the curb, speechless. This was the first time she had been to the 'famous', Las Vegas Strip. It was much darker then before they had gone to the lab. Danni looked at her watch, which read _01;42am, _then stood mesmerized by the bright lights. She watched as men and women, alike, poured into the casino's, eager to win the big money. Danni jumped, as she got poked in the side, she turned round angrily, prepared to yell at Greg. But her voice died in her throat as soon as she saw the cute, innocent smile that was upon his face. Greg flashed her a cheeky grin, and held out his arm to her.

"Would Miss Mitchell care to accompany me to hunt down our suspect?"

Smiling Danni linked her arm with his. "Miss Mitchell would love too" she let him guide her towards the casino, as they walked Greg looked down at her with a small smile.

"What are you thinking about?" he questioned, snapping out of her trance, she turned her head up to face him.

"Nothing really" she paused, her eyes meeting with his. "I was just mentally comparing here with New York" Danni explained.

"And whats your conclusion?"

Danni scrunched up her nose, and Greg had to bite his lip to stop himself from calling her 'cute', she thought for a moment before answering "I think it is better to be here" she laughed softly to herself. "My friend would kill me if she ever heard me say that, shes practically in love with New York, you know the one I told you I used to live with" Danni smiled and rested her head on Greg's shoulder.

"Whats her name then?" Greg felt the heat rush to his face as they neared the casino doors.

"Jayme. Jayme Baynes. Shes a detective in New York" Danni smiled and slowly let go off Greg's arm as they passed through the casino doors.

Greg cast a look at Danni and nodded his head "Ahh" he breathed "So I'm guessing your going to go all mysterious on me again then?" Danni could tell this was a rhetorical question but she couldn't help herself from answering.

"There are many things you will never know about me, Greg Sanders" she sighed "Things that I'm always gonna have to hide" she added under her breath, just before her and Greg vanished into the sea of people that were slowly flowing around the casino.

**XXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey! Greg! over here" Danni shouted pointing to the office door, that was located at the back of the casino. She watched as Greg fought his way though the crowds of people. He finally reached Danni and he doubled over gasping for air, he rested a hand on her shoulder so that he could support himself.

"You would have thought that by now I would be used to this" Greg said in between breaths "I swear someone was trying to get a feel of me. If you know what I mean" he looked up at Danni, her eyebrow was raised and she was looking at him slightly confused.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Danni asked "For you" she quickly added smirking.

Greg looked at her, his expression deadly serious. "I think it was a man" Danni looked at him, then burst out laughing. "Your so lucky I don't hit women" Greg said removing his hand from her shoulder. They made their way to the office door, but found their way blocked by two men that were dressed in dark suits. One was tall and balding, his muscles bulging under his suit, his dark eyes inspecting Greg and Danni suspiciously. The other man was smaller, his dirty blonde hair clung to his face and sweat was clearly visible on his brow. He shifted nervously, looking from Danni and Greg, to the other bald man.

"What do you want?" the bald man asked Greg, whilst cracking his knuckles.

"I'm Greg Sanders, and this is Danielle Mitchell-" he said pointing to himself then to Danni

"-We work for the LVPD crime lab. We need to ask you boss, Mr Cassone, some questions" Danni finished for him.

"The boss is busy" the bald man barked back. He took a step closer to Danni."Though I'm sure we could find a use for the girl" the man smirked as he ran his eyes up and down Danni. Greg put his arm protectively around Danni's waist and pulled her towards him, he knew he was no physical match for the bald man but he wasn't going to stand there and let him threaten someone he cared about.

"One call, and I could have this place shut down" Greg spoke, his tone calm."So either you let us ask your boss some simple questions" Greg locked eyes with the bald man. "Or your boss is going to be pissed with you, cause you got his casino shut down. So what do you want to do then?" the bald man grunted in reply and moved aside, signaling to the other man to do the same. Greg rested his hand on the small of Danni's back, and gently guided though the now open door.

"I could of taken them, you know" Danni whispered under her breath.

Greg chuckled to himself, as he lead her into the office. "I'm sure you could have. I just didn't want to risk anything" both Greg and Danni smiled softly to themselves, neither of them heard the door softly shut. It was only the cocking of a gun that drew their attention.

"Sorry to ruin the moment for you two" Danni turned round slowly and found a gun pointed between her eyes. "But I heard you had some questions for me" the man smirked his light blue eyes sparkling. Greg went to move towards the man. The blue eyed man grabbed Danni's arm, gripping tightly on her arm, he squeezed his finger lightly on the trigger. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" he advised with an evil smile.


	6. Bring It Sanders

**_Ok, sorry about taking so long to get another part up, but I started this then my laptop decided to break on me so I had to re-do this. As usual I own nothing cept Danni, reviews are greatfully accepted, I wanna know what you think about this chapter :), so enjoy..._**

* * *

The man drew his attention back to Danni. "Now, about them questions. You forget all about them, and I'll let you leave this room alive" he said locking his eyes with hers.

"Mr Cassone, it's just some simple questions involving a murder case" Danni tried to reason.

"I'd keep my mouth shut and get out if I were you, little lady" Cassone said with a chuckle, he turned to smirk at Greg. Danni took a quick breath and her one shot of getting out alive. With one smooth motion she lifted her right leg, and brought it into contact with his stomach, Cassone immediately doubled over, gasping for air. Danni quickly disarmed him, and hit his lower back, with her elbow, making him fall to the floor.

"Now you're going to answer our questions" Danni said in-between heavy breaths "Sir" she added in an undertone, whilst applying the cuffs to Cassone's wrists. "Now tell me, how did your DNA get under our Vics, Freddie Dynamos, and our other Vic, Sarah Redding's, finger nails?" Danni dragged him to his feet and slammed him against the wall."And that was for calling me 'Little lady'. Now start talking" Greg remained speechless, shocked by Danni's sudden outburst.

"What can I say, I'm a popular man" Cassone bragged with a small smirk on his face, his blue eyes sparkling once again.

"Yes, I'm sure the men where you're going to go will love you too" Danni replied with a smirk bigger than his.

The smirk quickly dissolved off Cassone's face "Ok, ok. I'll talk. Jeez, you need to learn how to take a joke" Cassone saw the look on Danni's face and quickly shut up. "And for the record I was friends with Freddie and Sarah-"

"Just friends?" Danni interrupted.

"Well friends with benefits" he winked. "But I swear, the last time I saw either of them they were very much alive!" he paused "Can you take these cuffs off now?" he asked with a small frown.

"I'll take off the cuffs when you have answered all our questions" Danni stated back.

"When did you last see them?" Greg asked finally finding his voice.

"The last time I saw Freddie was in this office, that was about three weeks ago now" Cassone answered with a smirk. "But the last time I saw Sarah was last night, around 10ish" Greg looked at Danni.

"Liver temp placed Sarah's death around 1am" Greg said casting a look at Danni.

Danni nodded, and pulled Cassone around so that his back was facing her, taking a key from her pocket she unlocked the cuffs. Cassone rubbed his wrists in annoyance. "You're going to hear from my lawyer about this."

"Oh really, am I?" Danni asked as she made her way to the door. "Because I'm pretty sure that your case against me will be weak after I tell them that you held a gun to my head, and what I done was an act of self defence" Danni smiled and went to follow Greg out of the door, but paused in the doorway "Oh and don't go anywhere. We might need to talk to you again soon"

"I'm going to get that bitch!" Cassone muttered collapsing back into his desk chair, watching Danni and Greg leave.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" Greg questioned as they reached the car and climbed in.

"I was a very violent child" Danni answered with a chuckle.

"Really?" Greg asked raising an eyebrow; his hand hovered over the keys as he paused before starting the ignition.

"Ok, I used to do karate." Danni confessed, she looked at Greg and he burst out laughing. "What's so bad about me doing karate?" Danni quizzed whilst giving Greg evils.

"Nothing is" Greg stopped laughing and poked her with his finger. "But never try fighting me" Greg said starting up the car.

"Why?" Danni asked with a small grin."Is it because you don't want to mess up your hair? You girl." Danni chuckled.

"No" Greg replied, his cheeks flushing red."It's because I don't want to embarrass you by kicking your ass"

They both laughed, and turned to face each other, their eyes locked. Neither one of them wanted to break the eye contact, both grinned like idiots.

"Argh, crap road" Greg shouted quickly turning his eyes back to focus on the road. Danni let the smile fade from her face and turned her head to look out of the window, the blush creeping into her cheeks.

"I would so kick your arse, so bring it Sanders!" Danni grinned as they zoomed through the streets of Vegas.

* * *


	7. Stupid Phones

**As per usual, I own nothing. It all belongs to CBS (Lucky gits ;P) Anyways enjoy :D...**

* * *

"We need to check out his alibi" Greg stated as he and Danni sauntered into the lab. "Correction we have to get Jim to check his alibi" Greg corrected himself with a grin. Danni grinned back.

"Argh!" Danni yelled as she caught one of her feet on the other, she flailed her arms out wildly as she fell towards the floor.

"Whoa" Greg called as he wrapped his arms around Danni's' waist, saving her from falling flat out on the floor. "Don't worry. I got you" he said as he pulled her body back up towards him, he grinned for a second, before a shout resounded through the hallway.

"Danielle Mitchell!" Catherine hollered down the corridor. Greg quickly let go of her waist, and stood beside her. They looked like two naughty school kids that had been caught doing something wrong. "What the hell do you think you're playing at assaulting a suspect?!" Catherine continued to yell as she came to a standstill in front of them.

"But-" Danni started but was silenced by Catherine.

"You know what. I don't want to hear. From now on, you're off the field, only lab work for you!" she ordered, ignoring Greg and looking Danni directly in the eyes. Closing her eyes, Catherine put her two forefingers to her temple and rubbed them, after a few moments she reopened them and turned on the spot and stormed back off down the hallway leaving Danni with her eyes watering.

"Are you ok?" Greg asked tenderly, turning to face Danni.

"What do you think?!" Danni spat, her voice thick with emotion. She bit her lip in frustration. She didn't want to let anyone see her cry, let alone Greg. "One day and I've already screwed up" Danni said before collapsing into sobs. Greg immediately engulfed her in a hug. Holding her close to him.

"You didn't screw up" he soothed. "Catherine is still coping with losing Warrick, we all are. She and Warrick were really close, they just never happened and I think she regrets that. Come on, let's get coffee" Greg said softly running a hand through Danni's hair. Danni nodded, her head still buried in his shirt. "You kind of need to let go of me then" Greg suggested before quickly adding "Only if you are ready to"

Danni sniffed and slowly let go of Greg. Moving back she wiped her eyes that were now red and puffy. "Thank you" she said with a soft smile.

"Don't. Honestly, it's ok" Greg said giving Danni a small smile. "Come on. Let's walk, there's a coffee shop not too far from here. We've been in the car far too much today" Greg gave a small laugh, and reached for Danni's wrist, and led her slowly out of the lab.

**XXXXXXXXX**

"Here" Greg said sitting down at the small table and passing Danni her decaf coffee.

Danni's eyes flickered up to look at him."Thanks" she said blowing the steam off her coffee. Danni lifted the polystyrene cup up to her lips and took a sip of her drink; she lowered it and paused for a moment. "Have you ever had someone accuse you of assault?" she questioned.

Greg took a sip of his coffee and then answered "Assault, no. Murder, yes" Danni's jaw dropped, and he let out a small chuckle.

"How? Why? When?" she gushed desperate to know more.

"I'm not telling you" Greg replied smugly.

"Why not?" Danni huffed, annoyed by Greg's sudden change in behavior.

"I'll tell you more about it, only if you tell me more about you" he said with a grin.

Danni thought for a moment. "Deal" she smiled and held out her hand for him to shake, he shook it and grinned. "What do you want to know?" she asked taking another sip of her coffee.

"Why did you leave New York?" he questioned leaning forward.

"It got boring" Danni said leaning back in her chair.

"Tell the truth" Greg said sternly.

"My friend thought it was best that I left" Danni confessed.

"Why?" Greg asked intrigued.

"Hey! You're breaking the rules. I told you something about me, now you need to tell me about that case you were on about" Danni said, sitting up straight in her chair.

"A gang of people almost beat me to death" Greg said simply. "Now answer. Why?"

Danni gasped but quickly regained her cool. "She got too involved in a case; she thought they might come after me. So she hooked me up with a job over here in Vegas" Danni explained in one breath. "Now more about you. Where you ok? How badly hurt were you?"

Greg locked eyes with Danni. "Well, I managed to save the man they were originally attacking" he paused taking another sip of his coffee. Setting the cup back down on the table he continued. "I was in the hospital for a couple days. They beat me up pretty bad. The thing was I had to run one of them over in self defense. It was his mom and brother that started up the case against me. Your friend, is she ok?" Greg asked concerned.

Danni pulled a face. "As far as I know she is. I haven't heard from her since I left. She made me promise not to go back though" Danni cursed under her breath. "Stupid promise"

Greg covered her hand with his. "Well she obviously cares for you a lot. I mean you don't put your life in danger for just anybody"

Danni nodded in quiet agreement. "I guess you're right" she admitted. "She was always the strong one" Danni said looking up into Greg's eyes. "She was the one always telling me to not give up on love, no matter what." Danni let out a hollow laugh "What was it she always said? Oh yeah that was it. _'Without love, life itself is worthless.'_ It took her ages to think of that. A whole day nearly" Danni exclaimed still humored by the memory.

"She has a point though" Greg said. "Love is one of the best things about life. It can make or destroy you, but yet you still have to go back for more. It's like a drug. You know it's going to hurt you, but part of you sees that it is worth all the pain" he paused for a moment. "Wow. That's really deep for me" he let out a little laugh, holding his gaze with Danni. She leaned forward slightly, her head nearing Greg's. He replied almost on instinct, tilting his head forward leaning more towards her. He went left. She went right. His phone went off.

"Damn" he cursed pulling his head back and answering his phone. "Sanders speaking" he said as he watched Danni blush and finish off her coffee. "Uh, huh. Got it. We'll be there as soon as possible" he nodded as he spoke then closed his phone when he was done. Danni looked at him, her eyes full with curiosity. "There's a woman at the prescient. She claims to have been with Sarah when she was murdered" Danni nodded and got up from her seat. On the way out she deposited hers and Greg's empty cups in the bin.

She gave Greg a nervous grin. "We'll have to get coffee again soon"


	8. I want to help you

**I own nothing; csi belongs to CBS and the rhyme that Greg sings belongs to J.K Rowling (It's in the first book :S If I can remember rightly) Enjoy..**

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"I think it's best if you don't come in" Greg explained as him and Danni headed back to the lab. "I mean, I just don't want to give Catherine any more reasons to shout at you" he added.

Danni nodded. "I agree" Greg looked at her with concern; she had been quiet ever since they had left the coffee shop.

"I'm sorry" Greg said as he looked at his feet, scuffing his converses on the floor as he did so. "Sorry for what happened at the coffee shop"

Danni looked at him shocked. "What?!" she managed to get out. "No. It's nothing to do with what happened" Danni paused, out of all the people she had met at her new job, she trusted him the most. It was probably because he had been the one she had spent the most time with. But she still couldn't let herself trust him fully; she had been let down too many times in her life to trust anyone fully. There was something about him though, he made her feel safe, and like no one in the world could hurt her when she was with him. "I'm worried about Jayme" Danni confessed, Greg lifted his head to look at her.

"You're friend Jayme?" he queried. Danni nodded and looked down, her brown hair falling over one eye as she did so. Softly Greg caught her chin with his forefinger and tilted her head so that she was looking at him; he gently brushed the hair off her face. "Now listen to me. You said she was the strong one right." He said as more of a statement then a question. "Then I'm pretty sure she is ok. Why don't you just text her or something. Let her know how you're getting along. Then that way you won't be breaking the promise you made to her, would you?" he grinned. "Heck. I'll even let you tell her about me, and how hot I am" he waggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh.

"You're stupid" she said in-between laughs.

"I'm cute" he argued back with a chuckle.

"Big head" she said and stopped laughing.

"To fit my big brain" he counter-acted with a cheeky grin.

Danni rolled her eyes. "Nope, it's just full with witty comebacks as far as I have heard"

"Nah, its bare and full of air, dead flies and bits of fluff" he sang. "Wait. And my big brain of course" he added realising his mistake.

Danni giggled. "I see you've read Harry Potter then" she poked out her tongue at him. "Nerd"

"Takes one to know one" Greg retorted. "Meet you in the break room. Say in like half an hour" Greg said quickly before Danni could reply.

"Deal" Danni agreed before slipping her phone out of her pocket, she turned and walked off down the hallway. She couldn't help steal one last look at Greg. Looking over her shoulder she saw him smiling at her, she mirrored it back then returned her attention back to her phone, and began typing a message, _'Hi, Jayme. It's Danni. Just wanted to see how you were. I haven't heard from you in ages. I'm worried. Text back, oh and I never said thanks for you getting Grissom to give me this job. So uh. Thanks. Xx' _Danni pressed send just as she walked into something that knocked her to the floor. Looking up she noticed who it was she had bumped into. Swallowing hard she said.

"Uh. Grissom, sorry.. I didn't see you there"

"Greg's changed" he announced ignoring Danni's apology. He held out his hand to help her back up; she quickly slid her phone back into her jacket pocket and took his hand.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her eyes scanning over Grissom. "He's wearing the same clothes as he was earlier" she said dumbly.

Grissom shook his head in annoyance. "I didn't mean that he had changed his clothes. I meant that he is more like the old Greg I knew. Before-" he paused, taking a deep breath to hold himself together. "-Before Warrick died. He's not been himself since we lost Warrick" Danni watched the older man fight against himself to keep his emotions in; she could clearly see the dark shadows under his eyes, from the lack of sleep because of all the ghosts that were haunting him. From all the people he could not save, from the friend he let down. His grieve was pulling him down, and she could tell one day it would make him fall so hard he couldn't get up. His grieve was different from the others. His wasn't from a brother like figure he had lost, not from a lost love that could have been great, but rather from a son that he never had. Someone that he had taught all he knew to, in the hope that one day the son like person would become greater than the father figure could have ever dreamed. When Warrick had died, part of Grissom had died with him. Danni snapped out of her trance like state expecting Grissom to continue speaking; but instead his eyes met hers with an empty stare.

"I still don't understand" she paused "sir"

"Don't call me sir" Grissom stated, Danni watched as once again his light blue eyes glazed over. "Before we lost Warrick, Greg listened to loud music, he danced like he was crazy and he was generally happy; then we lost Warrick and he became more sombre, he stopped listening to music and just generally gave up on life" Grissom let out a deep sigh, then turned and looked deep into Danni's eyes. "You changed him back. I saw that earlier in the trace lab. You two laughing and joking, it was like seeing the old Greg again. You saved him. Thank you" Danni blushed not sure what to reply to him.

"Who's going to save you?" she asked quickly breaking the eye contact.

Grissom's eyes widened for a second in shock. "I don't need saving" he said quietly averting his gaze to his feet. "I'm fine" he lied to himself and Danni. "Honestly I'm ok" he repeated.

"I think you need to convince yourself of that more than me" Danni stated bluntly. Grissom looked up at her, a glint of anger flashed in his eyes; it didn't go unmissed by Danni though. "Why are you angry at me; I'm just trying to help" Danni rubbed her forehead in desperation, then focused her deep brown eyes on Grissom.

"Have you ever had a friend die in your arms?!" he almost screamed at her; drawing the attention of several lab techs.

Danni's eyes hardened over before she replied with a simple "Yes"


	9. Mc Donald's

The air was thick with tension for a couple seconds. Only the whirling of the lab machines could be heard as Danni stared coldly into Grissoms eyes.

"Sorry" he finally mumbled. "I didn't know"

Danni nodded, she was afraid that if she spoke that her voice would crack and the wall she had build up around herself would crumble and fall leaving her true form; a scared little girl that had lost one of her closest friends. She needed to get away, she knew she was going to cry, she knew because the corners of her eyes were starting to burn. They always did that when she was about to cry. Then she would always crinkle her nose in an attempt to halt the tears from failing. It always failed though; no matter how hard she tried.

"Need.. Get.. Something.. Locker" she said her voice starting to go thick. Grissom nodded and set off at a quick pace in the other direction, guilt ebbing into his heart with every step.

Danni turned and hurried through the lab, her head down the whole way. She didn't want anyone to see her cry. She tore though the locker room, to get to the bathroom. Once she was inside she locked herself in a cubical. Almost instantly she broke out into a loud sob. Her body shook as the sobs burst from her. Her hands shot to her head, and ran up through her hair; trying to somehow make herself forget about everything. She could feel the warm tears licking her face, the salty remnants of them on her cheeks. She heard someone open the door and at once she fell silent; her silent sobs rocking her body. She took deep breaths in an attempt to control them; but to no avail. She could see the persons on the other side's converses from under the cubicle doors.

"Danni?" Greg asked; his voice was soft, questioning and full of worry. "Are you ok?" Danni didn't reply. "Open the door... please" Greg half begged with her. Sniffing Danni lifted herself up from the sitting position that she had somehow found herself in. As soon as she unlocked the door Greg pulled her out and into his arms. "It's ok. I'm here" he cooed, holding her to his chest and stroking her hair with his free hand. "Archie told me about yours and Grissoms fight." Danni felt a grin form on Greg's face. "I think you have to be the first new Csi to _ever _have done that... I'm proud" Danni let out a small breathy laugh. "Come on. Let's get you some milk and cookies" Danni lifted her head from his chest and gave him a questioning look. Greg cheeks flushed red "It's what cheers me up when I'm upset" he explained with a sheepish grin. Danni gave him a weak smile back and let him lead her out of the bathroom.

**XXXX**

She was falling. The wind whipping her hair around her face. She reached out trying to hold onto something. Anything. But nothing worked; everything was too far away. Her gut told her that she would be ok; that the pain of impact would only last a couple seconds. But common sense told her that the pain would be more immense; and that it would never fade, that it would survive even death. Then she saw _him; _looming above her. His smile radiating calmness into her. He reached his hand out to her, tempting her. Teasing her. She knew she couldn't reach it; that it would fade away like everything else that she had tried to hold onto. But none the less she tried; she put her faith on the line. For him. Someone she hardly knew. When their hands touched she gasped. His skin felt so real. So warm. Unlike everything else. He grinned at her, that grin that she was falling for; literally, and pulled her to him. They twirled in mid-air, holding on to each other tightly. The ground was getting closer, but she didn't care. She was with _him_.Nothing else mattered when he was there. 'Do you trust me' he asked his tone barley above a whisper. 'With my life' she replied with a nod of the head. 'Then hold on tight' he grinned as they slammed into the ground.

**XXXX**

The scene remoulded; she now stood in a dimly lit room. She could hear heavy breathing. She checked around; as far as she could see, she was alone. But the breathing continued getting louder and louder. Then she saw it. A dark shape in the corner, hunched over like a person. She crouched down beside it and pulled a torch out from her pocket. The light filled the tiny room. But it wasn't that that made her fall back in horror. It was the woman that was in the corner that made her fall. The woman's face was bruised and had blood running down her it dripping onto her already blood dampened clothes. Her face as pale as a ghost in contrast to her jet black hair. Her light blue eyes searched Danni hungrily. 'Danni' her voice was croaky and barley above a whisper 'is it really you'. Her eyes grew wide. 'You have to leave. Before they find you here. You need to stay safe. Get out' her voice started to rise in volume. 'No' Danni's voice sounded more brutal then she had intended. 'I'm not leaving you. Not again' the woman's blues eyes danced with sadness. 'Please' she asked. A loud shout echoed from far away, and she could hear the sound of feet on hard concrete. 'Go. Now' the woman repeated; jumping up from the corner with surprising strength. She flung her arms in front of Danni; as if to protect her. 'I said go now.' She shouted, her black hair hung limply from her head. 'I promise I'll come for you' she added in an undertone as the scene started to blur and go black.

**XXXX**

Danni jilted awake, her fists clenched. Her head moving up and down in a rhythmic pattern. Kind of like a... heartbeat. Her head shot up to see Greg sleeping soundly. She blinked a couple times to check she wasn't still sleeping. Deciding that she was awake, she tried to get up; but something was holding her tight so that she couldn't move. To be specific it was Greg's arms wrapped around her waist that was preventing her getting up.

"Oh... bite me" Danni muttered under her breath trying to unhook Greg's hands from her waist.

"With pleasure" Greg grinned opening one eye. "Don't worry, I cleared it with Grissom. You have the night off, he feels guilty for making you cry" Greg explained sitting up and poking at his now-wet shirt. "Huh?"

"I think I had a bad dream" Danni admitted scratching the back of her head. "I think those might be my tears."

"Aw... babe" Greg said pulling her into a hug. He paused for a moment. "Ok... that was a test run for that word. Note to self, I cannot pull that one off" Danni chuckled. "But I can make you laugh though; which is a much greater achievement" he laughed and held her close to him.

"I'm hungry" Danni said, her voice muffled by Greg holding her face so close to his chest.

Greg smirked as an idea hit him. He slid his hands down onto Danni's shoulders and held her back at arm's length. "How about we make a deal?"

Danni nodded returning his grin. "I'm listening"

"I'll take you out for dinner, and in return... you have to tell me everything about you. Everything about your childhood. Everything about you coming over to America. I want to know everything about you." Greg gave her an honest smile.

"Deal" Danni laughed as she stood up then helped Greg to his feet. They headed to the break room door.

"So... where are you taking me then?" Danni asked as she reached out for the door handle turned it and let the door slide open.

"Mc Donald's" Greg replied with a cheeky grin as he stepped out into the hall way.


	10. Handy Cuts

"So... start with your childhood" Greg told Danni plopping a fry into his mouth. "Tell me about your parents, brothers, sisters and friends. Anything. Everything." He swallowed and crammed another fry into his mouth.

Danni's eyebrows knitted together in concentration. "I got on; still do get on, with my parents. I love them guys." She paused to take a sip of her drink. "I have two brothers; that both still live in England." Danni grinned and her brown eyes sparked as she stole one of Greg's fries; and ate it. "When I was growing up I had three really close friends" her voice softened as the memories she had tried to block came back to her. "They we're. Jayme; she lives in New York now, a detective there I remember telling you that ages ago" Greg nodded and lifted his burger to his lips and took a bite. "Then there was Hina; I knew her since I was little. She's still in England." Danni paused for a moment, concentrating on keeping her voice strong. "Then... Then there was Zelda; she's... gone now." Danni looked down as the table and picked the gurkins out of her burger.

"I'm sorry" Greg said.

"It was a long time ago now... almost two years." Danni sighed and put her burger back together and took a bite.

"So" said Greg pressing on. "Why did you come to America?" he dumped a pile of fries into his mouth and swallowed them down.

"Jayme didn't want to come out here on her own" Danni chuckled. "Her dreams were always filled with skyscrapers, busy streets and city love... oh and New York. She fell in love with it before she even met it" Danni sighed twisting a fry between her fingers. "I'm worried about her" she admitted.

"Why?" Greg asked raising an eyebrow.

"I text her before me and Grissom had that fight... She hasn't replied yet... she normal replies straight away"

Greg smiled at her and slipped the last bite of his hamburger in his mouth and swallowed. "She's probably on a date or something. Honestly it's probably nothing don't worry about It." he hesitated. "Are you going to finish that?" he asked pointing to her burger.

Danni shook her head "No you have it" Danni watched Greg's hand as he picked up her burger. Suddenly she reached out and grabbed it. "What happened to your hand?" she asked her eyes focusing on the little cut on the skin between his thumb and first finger.

"Oh... that. I was cutting up some potatoes for dinner like two days ago" his cheeks flushed but Danni shot him a massive grin.

"Come on. We need to go_. Now_"

"But..." Greg stared to whine as Danni dragged him out of the fast food restaurant. "...Food" he pulled his bottom lip over his top lip.

"I owe you a Mc Donald's" Danni half shouted as she finally managed to get him out.

**XXXX**

"Mr. Cassone we have a warrant to get a swab of your DNA" Danni informed the man. He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Why?" he asked, his eyes going a darker shade of blue.

"That cut on your hand-" Danni said pointing to the cut that inhabited the skin between the blue-eyed mans thumb and first finger. "-proves that you killed those two girls"

"So the cut can just grow a mouth and lie to you that I done it?" Cassone asked; sarcasm oozing out of his voice.

"Yeah it will; now hand out" Greg demanded, pulling out a new swab packet from his kit. Cassone done as asked and let Greg swab them. "Thank you" Greg bagged the swab and replaced it into his kit.

"My pleasure" Cassone replied through gritted teeth.

"We'll be seeing you soon." Danni finished with a grin.

**XXXX**

"So, do you really think he's the one who killed the girls?" Greg asked opening the passenger door.

"Yes" Danni answered curtly, she opened the driver's seat door. As they had left the casino she had begged Greg to let her drive; he had finally given in and handed her the keys. "But we are not the judges. We only serve them the evidence and let them judge" Danni continued getting in the car seat and doing up her belt.

"Wow" Greg secured his seat belt then arched his eyebrow at Danni. "Did you study Grissom's ideology at Oxford by any chance?"

Danni hit him lightly on his arm before starting up the car. "No. I just know that's the way it works" Danni said earning her a laugh from Greg. The engine burst into life with a roar. Danni quickly reversed then pulled out onto the road at a shocking speed.

"Jeez!" Greg hollered from the passenger seat. "Slow down a little, I think"

"Nothing's wrong with the speed I'm going at" Danni protested.

"Yeah. Excepted it's like a hundred-miles-per-hour over the speed limit." Greg almost screamed back.

"You're over reacting." Danni replied coolly.

"Over-reacting?" Greg shouted his grip on his chair getting tighter. "You're going to kill us!"

"Oh. Just shut up" Danni grinned back slowing down a little knowing they would be at the lab in a matter of minuets.


End file.
